This will go to the wire - Mallinder

Sale Sharks’ coach Jim Mallinder has predicted a thrilling race to the wire to reach this season’s Heineken Cup quarter-finals from Pool Three.

Mallinder’s team are out of contention following four successive defeats, but they could still have a say in who qualifies through winning their remaining fixtures against Glasgow and Bourgoin.

The group looks like being a straight battle between Llanelli, Sharks’ 17-12 conquerors last night, and Bourgoin. The teams meet at Stradey Park next month.

“It is going to be tight to the finish, and quite a lot of it could be down to our performances,” Mallinder said.

“We are not going to qualify for the last eight, but we will give it our best shot in our final two matches.”

Mallinder was pleased with his side’s display against the Scarlets and Sale only came unstuck during the closing five minutes when Llanelli overturned a three-point deficit through substitute David Hodges’ try and Stephen Jones’ fourth successful penalty.

Sale defended superbly, clinging on to the lead that was given them through first-half touchdowns from flanker Apollo Perelini and centre Graeme Bond, before Llanelli’s relentless pressure eventually told.

“This was a great result for us. We were under the cosh, and we were not winning that game until the 75th minute,” said Llanelli coach Gareth Jenkins.

“The key to victory was our composure – we didn’t panic, and we were far more direct in the second half.

“David Hodges (a half-time substitute for an injured Scott Quinnell) was the catalyst. He gave us targets, and I believe he was the major influence.

“With Bourgoin losing to Glasgow, it has made this group a reality for us. That was certainly a nice Christmas present for us from Scotland.”

Quinnell took a blow to his ribs which forced him off at the break, while Llanelli wing Wayne Proctor went to hospital as a precautionary measure for possible concussion.

Glasgow kept alive their slender hopes of Heineken Cup progress with a dramatic last-ditch penalty winner against Bourgoin in a scrappy clash at muddy Hughenden.

Going into injury time the Scots trailed to four Alexandre Peclier penalties and looked set to pay for a string of missed kicking chances by Tommy Hayes and his replacement Calvin Howarth.

However, Kiwi Howarth came up trumps when it mattered as Glasgow secured a priceless win at the death.

Leinster coach Matt Williams praised the courage of his players after emerging from their bruising Heineken Cup encounter against Montferrand with a 12-9 victory.

The Irish side took a massive stride towards the quarter-finals finals at Donnybrook with four penalties from scrum-half Brian O’Meara against Gerald Merceron’s three.

The result secured back-to-back wins over the French giants and Williams said: “We started very nervously and it took us until the second half to settle down - but once we did I thought the boys were magnificent.”

The Australian had a special word of praise for the kicking abilities of his scrum-half O’Meara, who was forced to move from his home province of Munster after being overlooked in favour of Peter Stringer.

“We’ve done so much work on goal-kicking at Leinster and no-one wins this competition by kicking less than 80%.

“To his credit, ’Bomber’ has made himself a very valuable player to the team by kicking his goals.

“He might be lacking a few things but self-confidence isn’t one of them. He’s very competitive and he’s a real pro. He’s been written off in places and he’s moved cities to come here.

“I’ve got great respect for him. I thought he was our man of the match in Montferrand last week and I thought he played very well again.”

Borders bowed out of European competition after slumping to a 12-6 defeat against Mantauban in their first-ever game at Netherdale in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup.

It meant a 31-22 aggregate defeat for the Scots, and Borders head coach Tony Gilbert said: “They took their chances more than we did.”